This past Monday I did a presentation at the Moorpark Community Center as part of the Small Business Forum entitled “Marketing Your Business for Success.” I presented to almost 30 small business owners plus the Moorpark Mayor Janice Parvin, City Councilwoman Roseann Mikos, Ph. D., and Patrick Ellis, President of the Moorpark Chamber of Commerce. It was a great way to step into the role. I’m glad everyone was awake and energized at 7am! Thank you Daylight Saving Time!

What I love most about this opportunity is that I get to do what I love – working with small businesses and organizations. Additionally, services are free to the businesses. These are your tax dollars hard at work. Strengthening existing businesses and growing new enterprises is an important part of our economy’s engine. I’m proud to be helping with this endeavor.

This is the end of the personal part of the post. If you’re a small business owner, or in the process of starting one up, then you really should read on, no matter where you live in the U.S..

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Small Business Development Center – SBDC

The EDC-VC also hosts the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) for Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. The national SBDC program assists more that 1.3 million businesses through over 950 Service Centers. The SBDC is funded by the Small Business Administration. The EDC-SBDC center provides free consultations and low-cost training sessions in these key areas (I highlighted the areas in which I’ll be counseling):

Need business advising?

Join the EDC-VC email list for updates on business events throughout Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

Follow the SBDC LA Twitter account. This covers the Los Angeles SBDC area which includes the Ventura County Center.

Call to make an appointment. It’s not really a drop-in type of center. Tell them what type of support you’re looking for and they will set up an appointment for you to meet with an adviser. If you need support in one of my areas of expertise then they will schedule a time for us to meet, either at the Camarillo center or at your business site. I’ve started working with some of the other advisors and they’re amazing. You will be in good hands. Please tell them you heard about the Center from me, Jesse Luna.